Yet Love thy Dead (Who Long Lay in Thy Arms)
by ShivaVixen
Summary: Alternate Universe, and slight Fix Fic. It starts with Jack being followed by a woman that thinks he's an idiot, and leads to Ianto being brought back to life. Now they'll have to live with the consequences, while the Doctor tries to find the source of the paradox.
1. Yet Love thy Dead

**Inspired by black k cat. I entirely blame this on her Torchwood stories. Inspiration also came from the Greywalker Novels by Kat Richardson. The Title is a line from an Anne Bradstreet poem.**

**Note: the OC is more of a plot device than a character, despite having a couple parts where we're seeing her p.o.v. There is no romantic or sexual relationship between the OC and the Canon characters.**

**Yet love thy dead (who long lay in thy arms)**

The first time is in a pub, and he sees her the moment he walks in.

Jack is alone- Owen is at another bar, Ianto is furious because Jack's latest attempt to help with the archives has not gone well (He'll figure out a way to apologize later, when Ianto doesn't look like he's going to use one of the various weapons on him the moment he pokes his head through the door) Gwen and Tosh have decided to have a ladies night (something about dealing with too much testosterone, and Jack would feel more offended if he hadn't learned Owen had moved certain objects out of the bathroom and both of them are having their periods at the same time- Owen, on the other hand, is more offended). So that leaves him with trying to find some company for tonight that won't expect more, and he's not going to spend the evening with Owen, lest Tosh and Gwen find out and convince Ianto to help them.

(With what, he doesn't know, he just knows it's a bad idea to mess with certain feminine objects at a certain time of month, and Owen is completely unaware of the fact they are most likely plotting his demise.)

The woman in question is wearing a beat up black jacket, sitting in perhaps one of the more out of the way corners of the pub, and idly sipping a half-full pint. She's not bad looking, brown hair pulled back, with pale skin that clearly hasn't seen the sun in a while, but more importantly, she looks lonely, and Jack figures she won't mind if he joins her.

He's halfway to her when she briefly turns her head to look at a beat-up grandfather clock with darts in it (the dartboard itself is about two feet to the right) and see's a bruise on her cheek. It's healing, and a ugly yellow color, but it draws him up short.

She notices, and looks at him. There's a flash of recognition, and Jack tries to remember if they've met before, but the recognition fades just as sudden as it came.

"I'm not using that chair." She offers, and gestures with a gloved hand towards the rather rickety looking chair. Her voice is rather quiet, and her accent is clearly American, he recognizes it from a movie (which one, he doesn't remember), a slow sort of drawl on her vowels, but not obnoxiously noticeable.

"Mind if I join you, then?" She just shrugs in response, and turns her head to look out the window again. "You're from the U.S.?" He tries to start a conversation (and starts to think he probably should have gone to a bar as she starts, apparently having forgotten he was there).

"Originally." She takes a sip. "Been travelling."

"Oh, so what brings you to Cardiff?"

"Here for a friend."

"You don't talk much, do you?" Jack is a little surprised when that causes her to smile. Not a big, mega-watt smile, but a wry one, with only one side of her mouth moving up.

"Depends on the subject." The wry half-smile remains. "How about you, from around here?"

"Originally, no, I work around here, though." Jack winces as the Grandfather clock decides to go off, and announce the time.

"Then I'll see you around." She drains the remainder of the pint with a gulp and stands. "Thanks for the company, Captain."

"Maybe- wait!" Jack turns around to stop her, but she's already gone- which should be impossible unless she ran, and there's no sign of the other patrons noticing her flight.

The most damning thing, though, is he never told her he was a Captain.

Things go back to normal for Torchwood Three (after Gwen and Tosh put superglue in one of Owen's condoms, it's a little harsh, but Owen has learned not to mess with the feminine hygiene products that Gwen and Tosh bring) and Jack doesn't mention the odd meeting.

The next time, he's in an old, overgrown, but still serviceable, graveyard, checking for the possibility of a 'vampire', and Gwen and Ianto are also searching while Owen is trying to find a better explanation for the entire blood-loss of their victim.

"Watch your step, Cap'n Jack." The American drawl makes him start, and a hand pulls him back from the tarp that covers a newly dug, but as yet empty, grave. He turns to see the woman in the beat up jacket standing there, looking very amused.

"What are you doing here?" Jack manages, and hears the others start to question who he's talking to.

"Exploring. You?" She takes a few steps away to skirt the tarp.

"Depends, are you a vampire?" It would fit (except she didn't drink his blood or seduce him) and she's still pale (still has the bruise, though it's faded a little more).

"Ugh, no, please note that it's noon." She gives him a look of annoyance. "And if you dare make a comment about _Twilight_, I will hit you."

"Then why are you here?"

"I said I'd see you again, but since you're busy this time . . ." She turns and starts walking behind a large oak tree.

"Wait!" Jack tries to follow and grab her, but once again, she's gone. "Damnit."

"Sir, tell us what's wrong!" Ianto's voice is raised over the others on the frequency, and Jack winces.

"It's not related to the case; Tosh, when we get done here, I need to talk to you."

It's only a few days later that the case is solved rather disturbingly, as it wasn't a vampire, just some psychopath who made a machine to drain blood from his victims. Gwen is comforting the near-victim they just saved, and Ianto is dealing with the local police, so Jack walks off to the side, intending to head to the car, when he sees movement next to the small church that said psychopath was living next to.

Said movement is wearing a beat up black jacket, and Jack doesn't bother making an excuse as he quickly walks over and enters behind her.

Inside the church is empty and the woman is sitting down in one of the rather quaint-looking pews.

"Are you following me?" He demands, walking up to her. "You know who I am, but I don't know you, we've never met!" She could be a real threat, he'd realized this in the graveyard, and just waiting to strike.

"Technically, we just haven't met yet." She corrects, eyes not leaving the altar. "As for following you, only a little; I actually just wanted to come here today."

"Yet?" Jack doesn't like the sound of that. "Who are you?"

" . . . I honestly have no idea." She says after a moment, a mix of confusion and frustration briefly crossing her face. "I'm still working on that."

Jack doesn't know what to say to that, and doesn't know what to say next to keep her from rushing off like before. Especially since she's actually speaking to him this time. "I suppose you believe in God." He sits on the edge of the pew just across from her. "I doubt he'll help you with that."

"Mm, that's debatable." She looks at him. "It's one of my few good memories, y'see, I'm hoping to jog something else while I'm here."

"That's . . ." Surprisingly reasonable, actually, but he can't quite bring himself to say it, "one way, I suppose."

She gives him a look that informs him whatever opinion of his intelligence she had, it just went down.

"You're very odd." Jack defends, and gets a small smile from her as Ianto's voice tells him they're ready to go.

"So I've been told." She turns her attention back to the altar, and Jack starts to leave, before he realizes he probably should bring her to the Hub- but when he turns back, she's gone. "Damn."

The next time they meet, it's been a while, some things have changed (and some haven't, and he might be more than a little in love with Ianto), and Jack is starting to feel tired, old, like he hasn't in a long time. He's delaying heading back to the Hub, and she's suddenly right next to him.

"You look awful, Cap'n." Is her greeting, and amazingly, he doesn't fall over. "Haven't you ever heard of a vacation?"

"Where have you been?" Is Jack's response, and realizes how it sounded when she tilts her head. (She still has the bruise on her cheek, and that sends up more red flags, whoever she is, wherever she's from, she's not normal.) "What are you? You still have that bruise, it's been months."

"For you, it's been months." She corrects, and absently touches the bruise on her face. "I'm human, I think, or at least I was . . . Not sure anymore."

"Why are you following me?"

Annoyingly, she doesn't answer his question, just asks one of her own. "You really love them, don't you?" At his glare, she just stares calmly back, and clarifies. "Your team. You really love them."

"Why do you care?" The question is harsh, and he pulls himself to his full height. (Because if she's going to threaten his team, he's not going to hold back.)

"I don't." She sighs, and takes a step away. "You, however, do, since you keep letting yourself get killed for them."

She's gone before Jack can retort, and he's now in a fouler mood than before she came.

After that she doesn't appear to talk to him again, but he swears he sees glimpses of her on occasion.

(But that, he eventually learns, doesn't mean she's lost whatever interest she has.)

* * *

Ianto first sees her on his walk to work. She's got a bruise on her cheek that's yellow, just starting to heal, and she's definitely watching him from the bench she's sitting on. Rather than ignore her, like a good portion of his mind is telling him, he walks over.

"Do you need help, miss?" She starts, as if not expecting him to actually speak to her.

"No, I'm fine . . . you can see me?" She looks a little worried at that, glancing down at the watch on her wrist.

"Should I not be able to?" Ianto asks, a little disturbed, and reaching for his phone. She's probably some tourist or student that lost her meds, or something, he decides.

"Well, not everyone seems to." She stands. "You're with Torchwood, right? Captain Jack Harkness?"

That makes him stop, because an she really shouldn't know either of those names, and it disturbs him even more.

"I thought so," She says (despite the fact he hasn't answered, hasn't said anything), and gives him a wry smile, "if you would, could you not tell the Captain you've seen me?"

She must be a former one night stand, Ianto decides, and agrees. It's not till she's disappeared around a corner that Ianto reminds himself that Jack never reveals anything regarding Torchwood to outsiders, but by then she's gone, and Ianto hurries so he's not late to work.

(He doesn't tell Jack, anyway, and wonders who she is.)

He sees her a lot, always watching, but she never approaches him, and he's sure she sometimes watches the others. (He gets his confirmation when Owen comes in with a black-eye and a complaint that a woman with a bruise hit him for flirting with her, despite her watching him at the bar.) She doesn't do anything, though, and catching her isn't a option.

The next time they actually talk, it's been a while, and she's sitting on the same bench as he walks home.

(Jack isn't with him, despite his best efforts, and Ianto tries not to show how hurt he is.)

"I might have made the Captain angry, earlier." Is her greeting, and Ianto joins her on the bench. "Didn't mean to, though."

"It's been stressful." Ianto is somewhat surprised when she just nods and accepts that explanation. "What did you say?"

"I called him on letting himself get killed so much." She looks annoyed. "I don't care that he can keep coming back, it's just not healthy for him."

"He doesn't let himself get killed!" Ianto objects, and gets a disgusted look in return. "He doesn't, it just-"

"Just happens an awful lot when he could probably avoid it." She interrupts, but is now less annoyed, and more tired. "He really loves you, though."

"I- are you in love with him?" Ianto figures that would make the most sense, if this woman was a stalker (not that it would make him feel less disturbed at the idea).

He doesn't expect the rather harsh laugh she gives.

"No, just, no . . ." She shakes her head, and shudders. "I'm not in love with him, wouldn't have sex with him for anything; though I suppose I do love him." She puts her hand to the not-quite-healed bruise for a moment, before shuddering again. "Ugh, did you have to say that? Now I don't remember what I wanted to talk about!"

"Sorry, you just seemed rather interested in him, and you hit Owen."

"Guy was drunk and didn't understand the word 'No'." She makes a face. "I told him no three times, and I warned him three times, so you can't say he didn't deserve that hit."

"And Jack?"

" . . . I just want to see him happy." She gets up, and suddenly kisses him on the cheek. "Thank you." And with that, she's gone, leaving an obvious lipstick mark on his cheek.

(Jack is a little annoyed when he sees it after coming over later, but Ianto just says it was a thank you, and Jack doesn't press for more information after he wipes it off.)

* * *

It's a long time later, Ianto is dead, long dead, and Jack is with the Doctor, unable to stay in Cardiff, or even Earth.

The Doctor has him help get some refugees from one planet to another, and worries over the fact that Captain Harkness is still something that shouldn't exist, but is something he can't fix.

At least, not yet, and not without some potentially serious repercussions. The Doctor doesn't ask him why he's left earth, he has a fair idea, and instead focuses on helping the refugees.

"You!" The Doctor quickly moves to stop Captain Harkness from doing- well, he doesn't know what, but that was definitely an angry exclamation. He finds him staring at human woman (definitely human, definitely from Earth, but something is wrong- similar to Captain Harkness, but not.) The woman is dirty, her jacket looks worse-for-wear, and she looks ready to bolt. "Are you following me even now?!"

"Um, I don't know you . . ." She backs up, and the Doctor moves to intervene before Captain Harkness does something he'll regret-

"No, of course not, not yet." When suddenly the Captain deflates, a lingering sadness that's been hanging over him intensifies. "This must be how it starts, then . . ."

"Oh?" The Doctor interjects, and the woman (barely, just out of girl-hood he thinks) definitely shrinks back. "What's your name?"

"I don't . . . I don't really know . . ." She is glancing back and forth between them, still wary, still exuding the sense of something wrong. "There were a lot, and the experiments, so . . . I don't really know."

"Experiments?" The Doctor asks, and he's more than a little upset at the thought- Earth is under his protection, and there are only a handful that might dare to take people from there for such a purpose. "You escaped?"

She nods, and then suddenly walks through a pillar. "Like that." She explains. "But I was the only one, others, lots of others are still there."

"Where? Do you know?"

All he gets is a shake of her head, and she wraps her arms around herself. "Ship, moved a lot." She adds after a moment, perhaps realizing that such a fact was important.

"Then you should come with us, and we'll help." The Doctor smiles. "Captain Harkness, if you would finish helping the refugees, I'll escort our guest back to TARDIS."

(Captain Harkness agrees, and the woman follows him, but warily, much like a stray cat.)

There is of course, something very wrong with the woman, and the Doctor is now very worried. For one, not even TARDIS can figure out what exactly is wrong with her, or how she's capable of becoming intangible, and for another, he now has two clearly broken birds to try and mend.

Oh, and said two broken birds? They don't talk to each other, at all.

"You can really travel through time?" She asks one day, leaning against a rail as he checks over the TARDIS systems. Captain Harkness is somewhere else, probably napping, and the Doctor doesn't mind her company for a bit.

"Yes, with the help of TARDIS." He pauses, because she's looking at something where nothing is. "Something wrong?"

"You dropped a bolt there, it rolled under there." She points, and he's more than a little disturbed to find she's right.

"How did you do that?" He asks, and she just shrugs, before trying to explain at his look.

"I see things, sometimes. Things that have happened before . . . but only when I'm intangible, it's . . . kinda odd." She tilted her head. "Sometimes, it's misty, other times more clear, and sometimes I can touch things."

And that set off alarm bells. "Well, we probably should look into that, shouldn't we?"

"No, I don't want to."

If he could have, he would have hit his head on the wall. The woman was a little over-sensitive to two things- touch (which is what usually set her against the Captain) and the idea of experimentation (this was a little more understandable, as she was experimented on, afterall, but still frustrating). "Not like that, I was talking about research." The Doctor gestured for her to follow, and after a moment she did. "TARDIS does have a wide selection of books, we might find a clue as to what was done to you that way."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

(While she looks through the section on Unique Abilities, he's going over his psychology books, and trying to figure out how to treat Post Traumatic Stress, because he's fairly certain that's what both of them are really suffering from.)

* * *

Jack is somewhat used to her presence now, but he still tries to avoid her, because she has the ability to ask questions he doesn't want to answer.

Then one night he has a nightmare (Ianto is dying, Gwen is screaming and Owen and Tosh are there, demanding him to save them, and he can't do a damn thing) and comes awake quickly, reacting to the foreign presence in his room and striking out-

Only his fist goes through the person, and his mind is halfway between remembering the Woman can walk through walls and freaking out that there's a ghost.

"What- Why, What are you doing?" He finally manages, heart-beat going back to normal speeds.

"I heard you cry out." She tilts her head, "You were having a nightmare, so I tried to wake you."

Jack mentally berates himself, despite knowing he can't really help it, before the edge of his bed dips down, and he looks back at her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks, and Jack is too tired to lash out like he wants to.

"No."

She just nods, as if he had told her. "So it was a bad memory then, those are the worst."

Jack stares at her, stares at where he remembers the bruise was (will be) and realizes that she's being completely serious.

("_There were a lot, and the experiments . . ._" her words, from their meeting come back, and he realizes that she probably does understand, or at least, sympathizes. But he's too tired to care.)

"Thanks for that, mum, now if you could just give me a kiss and leave." Is what finally comes out, and he feels a little guilty as he sees her stiffen. She doesn't show anything on her face, though, as she stands up-

And suddenly there's a pair of lips brushing his cheek, a brief whisper of "G'night, Cap'n.", and she very quickly disappears.

(He tries to be nicer over the next few days, and she never brings up the nightmare.)

She disappears from the TARDIS not long after, and the Doctor is frustrated because the TARDIS doesn't know when she left, and more than a little concerned because the TARDIS doesn't seem to have recorded her stay, either.

* * *

She's being foolish, and she knows it.

She knows her memories are far too fragmented to ever be certain, and some are most definitely not hers at all, but she's pretty sure she's human, she's been to a church and lived in a place called U.S., and there might have been someone important, but that last is difficult to remember.

She doesn't know why she can do some of the things she can do, though she's sure they weren't the intended product of the experiments they (who she can't really remember as anything other than vague shapes) did to her.

She would have never gotten out, if they had.

And right now, she's certain of a few things, Captain Harkness and that Doctor were people she could trust, and Captain Harkness was a little like her, while the Doctor was only tolerating her existence. (She's not sure why she keeps thinking that, he's nice to her, but there's something off.)

She's also certain she shouldn't be seeing the colors that thread through the air, or the misty-looking people and objects she sometimes sees, because no one else does. The colors are what worry her the most, as they're constantly getting more and more noticeable to the point where even if she's not paying attention, she sees them flicker, and now she can sometimes touch and move them.

Which was why she was here, though she's sure the Doctor won't like it when he finds out.

Leaving the TARDIS wasn't easy, and she hit the ground hard, her face hitting something hard enough to know she would get a bruise, but she's pretty sure she can do what she wants quickly, before they come back.

She slips into the mist world, seeing layers of people and objects, and starts moving through it. It freaks her out, when a man notices her as she's sitting down on a bench, as normally no one in the mist world ever sees her, and she's more disturbed to realize the mist world isn't as misty as normal.

She's kind of happy, though, because now she might be able to figure out why Captain Harkness is sad in an easier way than just watching through the mist.

Jumping between layers of the mist world is hard, and imprecise, and really, really exhausting, so she has to take a break, and for once she can actually get something to drink . . . and Captain Harkness walks in.

She tries to go in the natural progression, but she's not sure she gets it right, it's tiring, and from what she understands, something bad happens to the one named Ianto (because that was the name Captain Harkness cried out in his nightmare) that she needs to know.

(Because he's a bit like her, and she wants to help him.)

She discovers her next problem not too long later, with what she starts calling the grey world. It's just as misty as the misty world, but completely gray with the brilliant streaks of color that the normal world had, and not the duller streaks the misty one has. It's all too easy to end up in the grey world by accident, and there's something there that doesn't like her, though it doesn't always attack when she slips into that world on accident.

The final problem she encounters is that the longer she follows them, the less she can interact, and the more misty things get, the less they see of her.

"_Don't."_ It's a very awful sound, and she doesn't like it.

Just like she doesn't like the odd color that's mixing with his natural ones, and covering them up.

(Ianto stops breathing, and she ignores her common sense to go into the grey world.)

* * *

_So, this is what death feels like._ Ianto thinks, it's very black, and he sort of feels like something is pulling him along.

"Found you." It's an American accent he hasn't heard in a long time, and he's somewhat surprised.

"Are you dead too? Is this the afterlife?"

"Um, no, and I very much doubt it, I think it's more inbetween." There's a moment as he processes this, when she suddenly gives a huff of frustration. "You could look me in the eyes, y'know."

"It's pitch black, I can't see you."

"What are you talking about, this place is grey . . . oh." There's a pause, and then a sigh. "Well, come on, then, let's get you back."

"But that toxin was fatal." Ianto objects, and there's a moment before she finally speaks.

"I'm not entirely sure of that, didn't erase your colors, just dulled them a lot."

Which makes absolutely no sense. Neither does her sudden cursing, and suddenly, he's gasping and choking, trying to get air-

"Damn, sorry, hang on."

- And suddenly they're in a park, he's still having trouble breathing, and he's more than a little confused why he's in his best suit.

"Sorry about that, didn't think that through."

"Wha- What did you do?" He manages despite his throat protesting movement.

"Well, I just brought you back to life, though you weren't totally dead, really . . . I think, your colors are pretty much normal."

"Why?"

"Cap'n is kind of miserable. I love the version of him when's he's around you." Is the explanation, and the woman tilts her head. "So, our next trick is hoping the TARDIS lands here again, and hopping on it."

Ianto feels like he should object to something, but he feels like he's, well, been killed and brought back. So he doesn't.

(He's pretty out of it, so he doesn't remember how they get to the bed she leaves him on, just as his body starts feeling normal.)

* * *

She knew it was going to cause her trouble, and from the colors swirling around him, the Doctor is furious.

"You meddled with time deliberately to bring someone back from the dead?!"

She has a feeling answering would be a very bad idea, so she stays silent; her hands are hurting, and she feels a little lightheaded, but the Doctor hasn't blasted her (or Ianto) out of existence, and he did help her get Ianto into the TARDIS, so she doesn't dare complain.

"What were you even thinking- How could you even do such a thing!" He whirls on her, and she tries not to sway on her feet. "Answer me!"

"I, I just . . . the toxin wasn't natural, I could remove its color to see the ones underneath, so he wasn't really completely dead." She can't really explain better than that, because that's when Captain Harkness and Ianto both rush into the room, and Captain Harkness grabs her hands, which normally would do nothing, except this time, she feels something on her hands sort of pop, and she falls to her knees, or almost, because the Doctor catches her.

She blacks out.

* * *

The Doctor is more than a little disturbed when Captain Harkness pulls off her gloves to reveal burned and blistered hands, and he can tell they're all disturbed to see that the damage also goes up her arms.

Whatever she did to get Ianto Jones back, it hurt her.

Once she's bandaged up, he's back trying to figure out what she is.

He finds it in a book from his home planet, warning of dangers of time-travel that for the most part are (were) considered mere myths.

"She's a paradox," he announces to the two men who are changing the bandages on her arms, "She's part of time, but not." He explains, when all that gets him is an even blanker look, he sighs. "Whatever the experiments were, they messed her existence up, she's . . . well, half in and out of time, I suppose, existing when she's not supposed to, at the same time not existing when she has to. It's why the TARDIS doesn't always register her existence."

"And bringing me back from the dead?"

"That, I don't know, yet. However, there's a problem."

"What sort of problem?"

"Being on the TARDIS is actually detrimental to her existence." The Doctor motions as the woman suddenly fades partially. "And as I need to sort out how she got this way, she needs a place to stay, and be watched over."

(It takes a couple hours, half of which the Doctor is watching over the paradox's condition, while Ianto and Jack explore something other than the issue, before Ianto and Jack come to an agreement.)

* * *

**So like I said, OC wasn't a character, so much as a plot device to drive the story and bring back Ianto. Her powers as a paradox come from the Greywalker novels, which are a pretty good read.**

**I did write Jack finding Ianto and their reunion, but I utterly failed at capturing the moment correctly, so much to your good fortune (trust me, it was a fail) I didn't include it.**

**If you want me to write more about this AU idea and the characters (including expanding on Ms. Paradox), let me know. **

**Otherwise, let me know what I could improve, I have no beta, and I tend to miss things even going over my stories a few times.**


	2. Time Passes

**Second Chapter, I think these will be a little out of chronological order, mainly so I can post without worrying about trying to fill in the time between each event.**

**Once again, this style (and type) of story was inspired by blackkcat, the powers of the OC/Paradox inspired by Kat Richardson's Greywalker novels, but the title of this chapter is from the Eagles song 'After the thrill is gone'.**

**Warning: This chapter does contain introductions to more OCs. However, the goal of these OCs, like the OC/Paradox, is to provide some more interactions for Ianto and Jack to work with, and because I want to show how things have changed. Do not fear, I intend to use Canon Characters as well, but there are only so many that would work in the story without plot holes.**

**Warning the Second: This chapter also contains Gwen, and I know not everyone likes her, but I wanted to include my head canon for what Gwen's purpose was originally supposed to be, which is what I assume the writers were aiming for, as well as show how things might have changed for her while Jack was away. That said, this is the only chapter that contains Gwen as an active role (for reasons explained in the story.) **

**Time Passes (And You Must Move On)**

" . . . Which is why, Captain Harkness, we've placed these new measures . . ."

Jack tries to keep his temper under control. He had known things would have changed, consequences of a sort, but this . . . this was pushing it.

After a couple weeks of what was basically quarantine (thankfully with Ianto and their paradox woman capable of visiting each other within those sets of rooms; annoyingly, the Doctor had 'not needed' to be in the quarantine, though Jack was sure that was due to the Doctor's ability to be a force of nature one couldn't argue successfully with), debriefings with several members of Torchwood One and Two, paperwork to have Ianto's legal status from 'dead' to 'living', a meeting with some UNIT members, and then the Doctor had cheerfully said good-bye and gone off to figure out how to fix their paradox woman, as Jack finally got a meeting with the new 'Director' of Torchwood to confirm he'd be taking over Torchwood Three again.

" . . . And in order to keep Torchwood from too much public scrutiny . . ."

However, things had 'changed' regarding Torchwood infrastructure, and even thought he was once again in charge of Torchwood Three, with Ianto and the paradox joining him, this was a little to much.

"You're saying I answer to you." He interrupts the woman (blonde, nice looking, but with the aura of a glacier) who is the new 'Director' of Torchwood, and who is going over what he, Ianto, and their new tag-along have to do to get back into the game.

"If you want to view it that way, yes." There's enough disdain in the air from both parties. "Your other teammates will be found for you, you do not have a choice, as I recall from the files and reports, the last time you put a team together, they mutinied against you in the beginning."

"And then got over it, and how many times did we save the world?"

"Regardless, this is how we're going to be doing things now." The Director informs him, and Jack just grits his teeth, because he can hear the warning behind her words.

_This is how you'll work, if you don't like it, we'll remove you._

"Understood."

"That, paradox, will need a name for the official paperwork, but you can take a few days to come up with it. We will send the documents and required visas."

The meeting ends with false politeness, and Jack all but storms out of the building to where Ianto and the woman are waiting, and both of them recognize the fact he's upset as soon as he gets close.

"It didn't go well, then?" Ianto asks, but it's the woman who responds.

"It's like looking at multi-colored strobe lights, and you have to ask?"

"Get in, we're going to Cardiff." Jack snaps, and ignores the woman's next remark to Ianto.

"You're going to have a rough night."

Jack relaxes in the car enough to start talking about what he discussed with the lovely glacier in female form who's now in charge of Torchwood.

"What about that Gwen person you talk about?" the woman leans forward, curious.

"She's being transferred to America to help Rex set up a Torchwood branch there." Jack doesn't like that, because Gwen is (was, now, a bitter voice reminds him) one of his.

"And what about Para?" Ianto asks, gesturing to the woman trying to lean as far forward as she can with her seatbelt on.

"Para?" Jack looks between the two.

"His idea, not mine." The woman rolls her eyes, before apparently deciding she didn't need to keep leaning forward and participating in the discussion, and tries to curl up into the back seat.

"We need something to call her." Ianto explains, "So, Para, sort for Paradox."

"Really, it's the most creative name ever." Comes the sarcastic remark from the back, followed by what only can be called a squeak as Ianto tosses a bag of crisps back at her.

Jack can't stop his lips twitching into a smile. "Para, I like it."

"She shot down my first few choices." Ianto explains at Jack's amusement, and a snort comes from the back seat.

"He wanted to name me after a Pteradactyl who has a name I couldn't possible spell, by the way, then he decided Morwen which has to be the most overused welsh name ever, and then he wanted to call me 'Nerys', which sounds like an awful name to give a kid-"

"It means 'Lady'-"

"You name a dog 'Lady', not a person." Comes the quick quip, and Jack glances back in time to see her stick out her tongue at Ianto's back.

Jack breaks down in laughter, and Ianto and 'Para' share a small smile. It's not really that funny, but Jack has been so out of sorts the past few days, Ianto and Para decided (well, Ianto decided, and Para happily went along) to try and help as best they could. Coming up with a name for her was just the least of it.

(Para is what sticks, although the official documents have 'Nerys P. Jones, preferred name 'Para' on them, and the back story she's given is she's Ianto's American cousin.)

* * *

The tourist office is gone. Ianto freezes as they walk up. It's been replace by a poorly lit pub, and even Jack has slowed.

"The Red Wolf, yeah, that's creative." Para dryly notes, and Ianto lets out a breath.

"Let's go in."

Inside is all wooden paneling, a creaky wooden floor, with booths on one side and tables on the other. At the bar, a man is reading a book as he polishes a glass.

The bartender looks up, and gives a small smile. His ethnicity is clearly Indian, but his accent is definitively London as he speaks. "Welcome back." He pulls up part of the counter, and Ianto notices he's missing a leg. "Name's Nigel, I'll be your doorman and security guard for up here."

"Have we met?" Ianto blinks.

"We have, but it's been a while." Nigel smiles, and nods towards the hidden door he just opened. "Was Torchwood One, same as you."

Ianto winces, because somehow, he has a feeling he's purposefully forgotten the man in front of him. Nigel notices, and gives a sad nod.

"I was in a coma for a while, but you did save my life, so anything you need, let me know."

"Any American beers?" Para slips up to the bar to look at the bottles on display.

"Darling, those aren't beers. That said, I can probably get some if you want."

"I know, but there's a drink I'm trying to remember, and I think it was a beer, or maybe an ale- something like that. I'm Para, by the way, I've got memory issues from living with aliens."

"You're joking." Nigel looks shocked, and Jack rolls his eyes.

"That's the short version. Her social skills are as bad as her memory, so if you could keep an eye on her whenever she's up here, we'd appreciate it."

"You've got it." Nigel nods, and Ianto focuses on making sure Para follows him and Jack into the hub.

Things have changed, rooms have been completely rearranged, and Ianto struggles to breathe because this isn't right.

(The Hub was destroyed, he remembers, but the difference, it _hurts_.)

A hand rests on his arm, and Ianto is a little disappointed it belongs to Para, who's looking at him in concern. Jack's ahead, talking about the changes, but Ianto can't focus.

"I'm sorry, is it my fault?" Para asks quietly, and Ianto realizes why a split moment later.

She brought him back, the Doctor had lectured them all on how dangerous that 'stunt' was, and the possible consequences. Para had taken it to heart, and was now under the impression that Ianto was her responsibility, and his emotions (chaotic, random sadness over the changes that occurred while he was 'dead') were somehow her responsibility too.

"No. I'm just adjusting, I'll be fine in a few days." Ianto meets Para's eyes with his, and smiles. "It's okay, this is probably normal."

"Okay, just remember we're here- or Jack is, anyway, if you want a more physical affirmation." Para kisses his cheek and moves to catch up with Jack.

"We need to work on your people skills." But Ianto follows, because she's right.

* * *

"You're alive."

Gwen had shown up to the hub, her flight left in 8 hours, and she needed to get her files.

Ianto doesn't know what to say, because while they had a respectful working relationship, Gwen had been a bit of a rival for Jack's affections, and, well, that lead to some tension, even after she'd been married.

So he's not prepared for her to suddenly hug him, and start apologizing.

"Wait, what?" Ianto pulls back to look at her. "Why are you-"

"I was such a bitch to deal with." Gwen explains, wiping her eyes. "Spoiled growing up, and it took me so long to realize, and then you were gone . . ."

Oddly enough, Ianto feels something in him relax. "Motherhood is good for you." He says, with a small smile, because this Gwen has changed, and it's someone he knows he can like, can work with. "And it's alright."

"Sorry, I just, you're normal, right? Not like Owen-"

"No, the person who brought me back was able to get my body to work." Ianto reassures her, and Gwen manages a small smile. "Do you want to see Jack, He and Para are trying to figure out the bedrooms right now."

"No, not right now, I . . . I actually need to talk to you." Gwen pulls him over to her desk. "Someone's after Jack."

"What?" Ianto knows that Jack has many enemines, so this is no surprise, but Gwen is dead serious.

"I was going over all the old cases, noticed some oddities in the crime scene photos . . . so I did some digging, Andy helped." Gwen passed him a USB drive. "I had to stop though, a woman cornered me, demanded I stop, threatened my family . . . with Jack gone, I . . . I had to stop." She would have given Jack the information so he could deal with it, Ianto realizes, and his respect for Gwen jumps up a bit, because she would have stopped actively searching once the threat came, but not passively helping Jack.

(Strangely, he feels grateful now that she does care for Jack, especially while Ianto himself was gone, but he can't bring himself to put that emotion to words.)

"Gwen, Jack has a lot of enemies," No way to know which ones are plotting after him, Ianto thinks, but it's been oddly quiet, "You can't possibly expect to-"

"These are in the government." Gwen stops him with a raised hand. "It wasn't just Jack they're looking at, but they're not doing anything to Rex beyond watching him while he's in America. I don't think they can do anything on American soil, but Jack's here, and . . . you need to watch out for him, and not die again."

"Understood." Because Ianto does- Jack's upset over the new rules on his unit, and if it's someone in the government, they'll take him if he crosses the rules just once. "What do you think of the Director?"

"She likes reports filled out properly and turned in on time, she doesn't care about your personal life, especially if it interferes with your professionalism." Gwen gives a small smile. "She scared off the woman that cornered me."

Ianto nods, understanding again what Gwen wasn't saying. As Gwen starts Boxing up the remains of her desk, Ianto quietly pitches in.

"You were going to replace Jack." Ianto feels rather than sees Gwen stiffen, but he has to continue, has to explain. "It's why I let you start taking the lead . . . In the beginning, Jack only hired us so he could train us and leave. You reminded him of how he used to be, so he thought you'd be good, once he got you broken in."

"Then he couldn't leave." Gwen softly notes, and Ianto nods. "I kept screwing up, and he fell in love with you . . ." There's a pause, and Gwen finally sighs. "We could have been so much better . . . but I think I like how it was anyway."

"Me too." Ianto puts the last box on the dolly she'd brought. "Be careful?"

"It's mainly a desk job and yelling at recruits, but I will." Gwen smiles. "Alright if I talk to Jack now?"

"Happily married?"

"Very, and Rhys is happy I'm no longer on the frontlines and home every night."

"Then yes." Ianto smiles as Gwen leaves to find Jack, and something oddly twists in his chest.

(He feels the twist again as Gwen leaves, and Jack wraps his arms around him, and he wonders why he feels upset that Gwen has changed.)

* * *

The first of their new team arrives with lab equipment, and Jack isn't happy with the way she looks at them as she insists on full physicals for the team.

Her name is Xing Cho, a 30 year old MD (with a second Doctorate in Psychiatry, she informs them with a heavy accent) from Taiwan that looks like she's still in her twenties, and like the Director, has an icy aura that just screams she needs to loosen up, or get laid, or both, and if anyone should suggest it, she'd slap them with a sexual harassment suit.

Dr. Cho spends most of the next few days setting up the medical bay (which now a series of rooms with only the occasional one-way windows) and Para helps, chattering about herself and how she's glad Dr. Cho is here to the woman who just tells her where to put boxes.

(Jack can see the trainwreck coming, he just doesn't know when it will de-rail.)

The second comes with an armed escort and paperwork that needs to be signed.

Jack reads it with a growing sense of incredulousness and frustration.

'Prisoner U-38-74438' is a alien shape-shifter that committed crimes on its (no gender was given, so Jack has to resort to calling the alien 'it') home world and earth, and since the greater crime was earth (what exactly the crimes were are unknown, Jack finds the sections redacted which just adds to his frustration), the government on its homeworld sentenced him to what was basically community service . . . with a collar that kept it from shifting into anything not the size of a human, and would self-destruct if it tried to remove it, or if it tries to harm anyone (human or alien).

Currently, the alien has chosen a male appearance, African in origin, and is glaring at him from a corner. Jack reluctantly goes to get Dr. Cho (who is giving Ianto a physical) and Ianto, leaving Para with the alien.

* * *

'U-38-74438' watches the 'Captain' leave, feels no small measure of disgust. Humans were creatures that pushed their limits to the point of their own destruction. They couldn't even hope to pronounce half of the names of the other worlds, let alone the names of those that dwelt on them, which is why they gave a number for a designation.

"You going to keep glaring at the door until he comes back?" The voice startles the alien from the thoughts on humans. "I didn't follow everything, but, you have to work with us, right?" The female stares.

"Yes." And it grates, which is why the form she is staring at is the way it is, the form and the collar cause strong revulsion in other humans, but this female doesn't seem to notice.

"And that collar keeps your powers in check?" She asks, and the glare doesn't phase her.

"It keeps me a slave." Comes the almost animal hiss.

"You killed a lot of people, you're lucky you're with us and not someone else." She corrects, and she shouldn't know that, because the file had those parts blacked out. "Should I assume you're male, cause that's the form you're wearing?"

"On my world, I am the equivalent of your male, so that is acceptable." 'He' nods, trying to remember lessons he learned on how to blend with the humans. (A tactic similar to what humans called 'method acting', thinking as the creature one was supposed to be, which also helped confuse most telepathic species into believing the shifters were one of another race.) "And you are?"

"Call me Para. I'm a Paradox that Captain Harkness and the Doctor found."

(The Doctor, a shudder runs through his body, because he's heard the stories of death and chaos the Doctor brings in the name of healing.)

"A Paradox?" He focuses on the unfamiliar term, pushing away the thoughts of the Doctor.

"Long story, the simple version from what the Doctor figured out before he dropped me with the Captain and Ianto, was someone killed a past version of myself while keeping me from disappearing from the timeline completely, so I'm not quite all here." With that she moved through a desk, smiling at him, despite the fact that none of his shock showed.

"And they let you wander free?" The woman was an aberration in the time stream, most Time Lords, according to the stories and legends he had grown up on, would have destroyed her on sight.

"Not exactly." She held up her right hand, and pulled down the sleeve, around her wrist was what looked like a thick black-and-blue leather wrist-band, with a square of silvery-metal that seemed to contain something that glowed. "This is my leash, keeps me from interfering too much with time."

"So, you are like me, then."

"'Cept I haven't killed, I think." Her brow furrows, and he finally asks the question that's been bothering him.

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, you've got the color, it's sort of a brownish-red." She pauses, and winces before clarifying. "Um, I see people's auras, we're not sure if that's related to being a paradox or not, but you've got the brownish-red color that comes from killing someone, the Captain's got it too. But I can't see my own colors very well, so I can't be sure." She shrugs.

"Do you always give information so freely?"

"Not if there's nothing I could gain from giving it." She studies him. "Think we'll have to give you a name, those numbers are a mouthful, and you said we couldn't hope to pronounce your real name?"

"You will not give me a name like some sort of pet."

"Well then, you'll have to choose one. I could get Ianto to help, Cap'n isn't allowed to choose names." Para leans against the desk she just walked through, and crosses her arms. "You're a part of this team now, even if you don't want to be, and wouldn't it be better for you to at least appear to be polite? You might get a lesser sentence for good behavior, y'know."

(And that's when the Captain returns with two more in tow, and begins a conference on what the jobs they're expected to do are. Prisoner U-38-74438 is a little surprised to learn his job is to examine and explain alien tech they recover, and not acting as bait or physical labor like he expected.)

* * *

Jack views his new team as they start claiming their desks, and realizes someone's trying to set him up to fail.

It's not just what Gwen told him and Ianto, or the clear warning from the Director, but the fact that these two members, and even Nigel upstairs, for all he seemed to respect Ianto, have been chosen by someone else and only given approval by the Director sends warning flags through his mind.

Dr. Cho is very clinical (hardly the type to have been treating patients, given that complete lack of bed-side manner he witnessed her give Ianto), and more likely a research doctor instead. And with the Psychiatry background, she's probably been instructed to monitor them and immediately flag them for removal if something comes up.

'Prisoner U-38-74438' was clearly a test of his ability to 'control' those under his command, in fact, the Director had even given him that warning when they met. Whether or not he would turn against the team was another concern, and they'd have to try to given him the incentive to not turn on them.

Nigel was their 'doorman and security guard', that could easily mean he was there to make sure they did nothing against whatever their new restrictions were.

Para, however, was loyal to him and Ianto, she had already come to him to say Nigel's colors were normal, and Dr. Cho's contained elements of stress, and would probably come to him later to tell him of their resident Alien. She was therefore another possible target, especially as they didn't know how she got to be a paradox in the first place.

And while Ianto was allowed to stay with him, Gwen had been sent to America, and by her own admission, that had been just after they'd been placed in quarantine (though she hadn't been aware of that, or that they were back until she arrived at the Hub and saw Ianto), so someone had wanted to limit the amount of allies he had in Cardiff.

Ianto slips up to him with a cup of coffee, and Jack pulls him into his side, wanting something solid and sure. He's gone through this before, seen teammates come and go for years, lost those he'd cared about, and it's right now that he suddenly realizes he doesn't want to go through it again, can't lose Ianto again, or he'll lose whatever hold on his sanity he has left.

A grin, sharp, dangerous, and more of a baring of teeth in warning, crosses his face as he spots a camera that he knows is new. They have no idea what he's really capable of, and if they want to play, he'll play, but by his own rules and players.

(He won't let this second chance pass him by, and if his opponents believed in a higher power or afterlife, they better start praying.)

* * *

**Okay, so, four more OCs besides miss Paradox. Ideally, the next chapter will have a couple canon characters to join in the fun.**

**Timeline wise, this story takes place roughly a couple years after Miracle day, so things have changed while Jack's been gone, and while Ianto was only briefly dead in his and Para's view, time travel is what puts him as alive 4 years after his death.**

**So, not only will I be exploring the changes, I'll also be exploring the events in the series, especially regarding Ianto and Jack's relationship.**

**I'm sorry to admit I have at least 3 more OCs of mine I'm going to have to bring in, in future chapters. They're mostly villains though, so you can forgive me them, yes?**

**Note on OCs- **

'**Director': She's in her late 40s, and very much no-nonsense. She's on Jack's side, but only has limited ability to keep him safe from danger.**

'**Para': I'm going to be fleshing her out the most, her story is going to be tied pretty tightly to Jack and Ianto, though again, there is no romance or sexual attraction between them, nor will there ever be.**

'**Dr. Cho': She's very professional, and based on several people (mainly doctors) that I have met. To tell the truth, she's mainly a background character, she won't be leaving the Hub's medical facility very often.**

'**U-38-74438': he will eventually get a name, however, the numbers spell two things, if you can figure it out.**

'**Nigel': Much like Dr. Cho, he is a background character and will rarely be leaving his spot. **

**Note on Gwen: This is what I assume the writers were going for, based on what I've seen of the show: Originally Gwen was intended to take over Jack's spot as the leader of Torchwood three, however, because the execution by the writers was poorly done we got left with a character that one either loves or hates.**

**Personally, I'm not going to mess with her beyond this, with occasional mentions of things that happened in series and while Jack was gone, but she's got her family, and her job, so she's going to be more focused on that now.**

**Let me know if I should keep going with this, okay?**


	3. The First Cut

**Not much to say for this chapter, except The same spiel as the previous two, and the chapter title comes from a song I can't remember the name of, but it's been in my head for a day.**

**Oh, Warnings: mentioned nudity (not explicit) and some past experimentation . . . also, our two favorite boys have their first argument, and there's a corpse.**

**Edit 4/9/2014: fixed Andy's last name from Davis to Davidson, added part of a sentence that went missing, and the letter g which also went missing from the last sentence.**

**The First Cut (is the Deepest)**

Jack wakes up to an empty bed, and Ianto's clothes (which had been scattered with his on the floor) are gone. Fear grips him, because what if it had all been a dream? "Ianto?!" He gets up to start searching-

"Yes, Jack?" -and Ianto walks in, mostly dressed for the day. Jack doesn't give him time to ask any questions, all but smothering him in a hug and desperate kisses.

Ianto allows it, before finally pushing Jack off. "Not that I don't like it, but what's wrong?"

"You . . . you weren't here when I woke up." Now that he says it, it feels a little childish, because Ianto was always the early riser between them.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jack." Ianto assures him, and Jack manages to nod. "You're still planning on teaching Para to handle a gun?"

(Ianto doesn't like the idea, because Para startles when there's a loud enough noise and occasionally phases through furniture as well. And despite the American stereotype, Para always looks a little spooked every time she sees Jack's gun. Para also tends to react to everything like a young girl, despite her woman body, and Ianto feels a little protective of that innoncence.)

"She needs to learn. I'm not teaching U- whatever to shoot, and Dr. Ice is really dead set on never touching one. Something about against her oaths." (Jack doesn't care about either of them, they're potential threats, but Para isn't, and she brought back Ianto, so he'll make sure she can survive.)

"Only three field agents, though, we probably should request more." Ianto muses, and Jack shifts.

"About that . . . I don't want you in the field." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jack braced himself. (He wasn't disappointed.)

"Beg pardon?" Ianto's glare is icy and the fury in it probably could have killed someone.

(The argument that follows is just as predictable.)

"I don't want you in the field, Ianto, it's too dangerous-"

"Too Dangerous? Unlike Para, I am actually trained-"

"I'm not letting you risk your life-"

"No, you're locking me up like a distressed damsel-"

"You're not going out into the field and that's an order!"

"Fine!" Ianto's halfway to the door when Jack realizes he could have (should have) worded that differently.

"Ianto, wait!" The door actually slams in his face, and Jack swears because Ianto did that on purpose, before getting the door opened. (He misses his old room, it would have been easier to stop Ianto, but that was destroyed when the Hub was, and since he didn't come back, they (whoever was in charge then) just reconstructed it to their own plans.) But Ianto has already either gone down the hall or stormed into his own room (that so far, he hasn't used save for storing clothes).

A startled squeak makes him turn to the side, to see Para with her hands covering her eyes. Belatedly, he realizes he hadn't put on any clothes. (But there is a more important issue.)

"Did you see which way Ianto went?" Para shakes her head with her hands still covering her eyes. (Normally, he'd find it cute, if a little childish, but right now, it's not helpful.) "Para, uncover your eyes, nudity never hurt anyone."

"Uh-uh," Para shakes her head again, "you're wrong, naked people get dissected alive."

The comment is more than a little disturbing, and Jack has nothing else to say for a moment. (And a frustrated voice is reminding him Ianto is getting away, while a more practical one suggests getting dressed before Dr. Icy sees and informs who knows who he's incompetent, or something.) " . . . I'll get dressed, and you better explain that." He slips back inside his room to quickly put on underwear and pants, "I'm decent!", and begins the hunt for a clean shirt without holes.

Para enters, looking a little red. "It happened, during the experiments, we had whatever clothes we had, but if they took them off, it was to strap that person to a table and start cutting."

"While they were alive?" Jack clarifies, and Para nods. "Did that ever happen to you?" He's dreading the answer even as he quickly buttons his shirt.

"I don't think so, they were only alive at the start, eventually, they'd stop screaming and moving. And I don't think I'm dead." Para adds, grabbing the suspenders from where they're hanging over the headboard to give to him.

"Ianto was right, you do need sensitivity training." Because that was entirely too much (and yet, too little) information. (It was one of the more frustrating things about her, the habit of saying so many words with very little meaning, or too few words with a lot of meaning. Thankfully she seemed to realize it herself, and was trying to correct it.)

"Huh?" Para blinks, not having understood his muttered sentence.

"Nothing, I need to go talk to Ianto, I'll see you around 11 for weapons training." Jack starts heading out, only for Para to cough.

"Might want to fix your pants first, Cap'n, and put your shoes on the right feet."

* * *

By the time 11 rolls around, Jack's mood is lower than it's been (though not as low as it was when he'd actually lost Ianto). Ianto has all but locked himself and the alien in the archives, going over what's in there, and won't even acknowledge his begging. Dr. Cho has informed him that his physical is the next day, and no, not even a rift alarm or the apocalypse will get him out of it.

Para looks up from her desk, where she's been reading books on earth and things she's most likely forgotten or will need to handle this era, and warily stands up as he approaches. "Are you okay?"

"Give me a bit, I'll get better." Jack tries to calm himself down, but apparently doesn't succeed enough because Para keeps eying him warily as she follows.

(It's going to be a long, frustrating, day he realizes, when Para switches to warily eyeing the guns he's going to train her on, as if they're going to randomly start firing.)

The lesson doesn't go as badly as he thought it would, actually; Para can hit a target, but she's wary about pointing the gun at anything she doesn't want to hit (even with her finger off the trigger) to the point of not shooting when she has to. (It's something they can work on, but it's a huge flaw when it will just be the two of them in the field.)

The lesson ends with a call from the Cardiff Police, and Para tilts her head in confusion when Ianto doesn't join them in the car, but doesn't ask, much to Jack's relief.

"You're back." The detective (who is assigned to be their police liason for all cases, apparently, to make sure they don't break any laws un-necessarily) that meets them at the scene is a very visibly put out Andy Davidson, though it soon turns to resignation hidden behind proffesionalism. "Who's this?"

"Nerys Jones, a new agent." Jack introduces her, and Para startles, having been staring at the cordoned off scene.

"Jones, welsh . . . like Ianto?" Judging from Andy's tone, he thinks Jack is using Para as a replacement.

"My cousin." Para lies easily, startling Jack, who had thought she couldn't lie to save her life. (And even though they ran over this back story for her, as the only ones that need to know her existence as a Paradox are the team, the Director, and the Doctor, he still thought she'd tell part of the truth.) "He suggested I come and work at Torchwood with him."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Andy turns a little more polite, and Jack tries not to laugh as Para tilts her head.

"Loss of what? Ianto makes better coffee than certain shops I remember."

"Makes?" Andy repeats, and Jack finally coughs.

"Ianto's not dead, Andy." Jack struggles not grin as Andy struggles to wrap his head around that thought. "We'll talk later, what have we got?"

"Homeless man, died under peculiar circumstance." Andy snaps back into professionalism, and leads the two into the alley.

Jack stops short, smelling burning flesh but seeing no burns on the outside.

"Burned from the inside." Andy explains, and Para quietly walks around the corpse, before looking around. "No signs of gasoline, or any flammable liquid, not even a lighter. Witnesses heard him yelling, some called it howling, and didn't approach until it stopped after about a minute."

"Right, we'll be taking the body, Para?" Jack notices her walking down the alley, staring at something she apparently doesn't want to see, but still trying to track it.

"It didn't start here, he was running when it finally killed him."

"How can you tell?" Andy asks, following her to the edge of the scene. "This is concrete."

"Para's got some unusual abilities, and she's got a good track record with them." Jack explains to Andy's skeptical expression.

"Depends on how strong a memory an event leaves." Para mentions, focused on following whatever trail she was seeing. "Being set on fire is a strong one- damn." Para stops, glancing between the still in view corpse and the small fence blocking the patch of grass and trees that formed someone's backyard. "This must've been where he noticed he was actually burning and panicked, but I can't see anything else that's useful." She looks to Jack in frustration, and he just nods, already trying to construct the scene as she describes.

"You said he was running?" It wasn't very far to run.

"Yeah, sort of in a weird pattern, like he didn't know which way to go." She walks back a bit. "Here's where he sees flames come out of his mouth, and he tries running for that drainpipe, but there's not enough or something, then he starts yelling, and running in circles, before trying to go that way and collapsing." Para finally closes her eyes. "I'll map it out, later . . ."

"Right." They go back to load the body into the truck, also getting the disks holding the crime scene photos, and Para is oddly quiet as Andy joins them. It's clear to Jack she wants to say something to him, but is staying quiet due to Andy's presence.

(Andy's reaction to actually seeing Ianto is priceless, but Jack has other things on his mind.)

* * *

It's a few short hours later, Andy has returned to his office to write up the first of many status reports on the case, and Dr. Cho has confirmed with a cursory examination that he did burn from the inside out, and the alien is being unhelpful on possible alien causes. (He just stares at them, as if they're crazy for asking.)

Jack finally pulls Ianto into the coffee room with Para as Dr. Cho starts a more through autopsy and the Alien is messing with a half-melted piece of tech.

"Alright, Para, what else did you see?"

" . . . Something grey was following him." Para notices their looks, and sighs. "I don't see just past images, I see weird grey shapes too, I guess they come from the grey world I got Ianto from." She shrugs, slightly hunching in on herself.

"But something from this grey world was following our victim?" Jack clarifies, and Ianto looks pensive.

"Yes, it left a small trail, but it faded before I could follow it." Which was the real reason she had stopped.

"I'll do some research, see what I find." Ianto offers, and Jack nods.

"Do that, Para, you and I will be heading out again, see if we can't find more of a trail." But his focus is on Ianto, who is determindly not looking at him.

Para shifts as she nods, glancing between the two. Clearly, she's seeing the tension between them, but oddly, she doesn't remark on it. "I'll go get my jacket." She says, and walks out- and closes the door behind her.

(Well, maybe that was her comment.)

"I'll get started on the archive-" Ianto crosses to the door, and Jack reaches out to grab his arm.

"I don't want to lose you again." Jack says, before Ianto can do more than open his mouth. "I can't lose you again."

Ianto softens, but there's still an edge. "Don't you trust me?"

"Yes, it's just me and everyone else I don't."

"I trust you."

"I got you killed." Jack corrects, and that opens the door on all the things he's thought of, the emotions he's tried to bury since. "I can't risk you, don't ask me to . . ." He pulls Ianto into a kiss, but Ianto pulls away.

Jack's not sure why, but that hurts more than he thought it could. "Para's waiting, I've got to go." If Ianto says anything, Jack doesn't hear it as he all but sprints to where Para is waiting.

Para doesn't say anything as he passes her, just falls into step behind him. She still stays quiet as they get into the van and leave the Hub.

"It might be fairies." Jack finally breaks the silence, heading back to the crime scene. "I've seen them choke people with petals and drown others on dry land. Fire from the inside would be possible."

"Fairies?" Para blinks, "They're real?" And there's a soft amazement in her voice at the possibility, Jack can't help but frown.

"It's not a good thing." He says, and explains the way they take Chosen Children away, and kill those that interfere. "We don't have much other information about them, we know they're very old, and exist partially out of time."

" . . . I take it you don't read many fairy tales." Para responds drily, but amusement colors the rest of her words. "I mean, they are known for taking children, being tricksters, and very cruel, or very kind, depending on their mood."

"Those are fiction." Jack corrects, and he can't believe she's bringing up old superstitions as if they're fact.

"The stories might be. The Fae, not so much." Para shrugs. "You're the one that said the Doctor gets mistaken for a wizard a lot in stories about the past."

"I've never said that."

"Oh, well, someone said it." Para shrugs as they finally pull up to the alley from before. "Now, I guess he came from that direction," She points down the row of fenced in yards, the alley leading to another street, "but we might have to go that way, too." The other direction had a dead end and someone had installed a hoop for basketball.

"Let's check the dead end first."

* * *

Ianto, meanwhile, is trying to stop feeling both annoyed and guilty.

Annoyed, because Jack has put him in the Hub with two unknowns, and ran out before he could say anything. Guilty, because he probably shouldn't have argued- asked questions, yes, argued, no- and he hadn't meant to hurt Jack.

His death had been partly his own fault, he should have created a cache of emergency supplies in case of the Hub being destroyed, and he probably should have been a little more cautious when Jack proposed going to the Thames House to get answers. But they hadn't thought about poison or danger to themselves, so much as kicking whoever's ass to convince them not to give up the children, and find out why they decided to blow up Torchwood when there was probably tech there that might have deterred the 456.

(Sleep deprivation might have played a hand, they'd been on the run trying to get Jack back, and then stay a step ahead.)

But that's just another one in a long list of what ifs and if only's and Ianto turns his focus back to the present, and the annoyingly long list of spontaneous combustions that Torchwood has studied. Also open on his computer is the file on their victim, a man who only recently became homeless because his wife kicked him out, claiming he'd gotten drunk and tried beating her. (The fact the man had no record of drinking, not even buying a drop of alcohol, was apparently ignored.)

Ianto calls Andy, to let him know where Jack and Para are, and the former home address of the victim, and then messages Jack and Para to let them know what he's found. Jack doesn't respond (and Ianto keeps his emotions locked away) while Para gives him a cheery 'thank you', and Ianto pulls up the tracking program to watch them move around.

There's a brief pause, probably as they're meeting Andy, and the trio head into the house, which was a little too close to the scene of death for Ianto's comfort.

After twenty minutes of no activity and no leads, Ianto decides to get up and grab a cup of coffee. Which is right when Jack's tracker starts blaring an alarm that signals he's died (a handy little program that Tosh came up with, before . . .), and Para's suddenly starts randomly losing and gaining signal, as well as indicating that she's rushing away from the area.

"What's happening?" Ianto demands, opening the line, and only gets a long strand of curses from Andy- and a few rather groggy retorts from Jack.

"The bitch is a damn witch!" Jack takes a deep breath. "Or something similar, she's got fairies under her command, one of them's got Andy pinned, apparently she doesn't want to kill someone in uniform, and Para's gone after her- Damnit, get away from us!"

There's a burst of static, followed by sounds of shots and a scuffle.

"Jack?"

"We're out, apparently, they're not going to chase us once we're off the property. Which way is Para going?"

Ianto directs them, and the alien slips behind him to stare at the screen. Para's tracker begins to get more and more erratic, disappearing and then re-appearing on the opposite side of buildings in her way.

"She's cutting through buildings." He says, startling Ianto. "She's trying to get ahead of whoever she's chasing."

"Wonderful." Because that means having to Retcon or trick half the city- Para can't turn invisible, though she sometimes appears faded while phasing through something.

"She's aiming for that park." The alien ignored his response, pointing instead to the spot on the map in question. "Must be where the target is going."

Ianto doesn't respond for a moment (mere seconds, but it feels long to him), because this is the first time the alien has spoken without being asked. The fact that he's helping is another brief shock, but Ianto doesn't have time to think about that now.

"Jack, Para's heading towards a park." Ianto starts, directing the two men to hopefully get there at least at the same time Para did.

* * *

It had been a nice house. Jack's mind keeps bringing up that one point- it's probably significant, they'll have to go over it- and even running, listening to Ianto give directions, Jack has to go over that point in his mind.

A nice house, with a fairly nice looking woman (her teeth were a little horse-like, and her eyebrows were just penciled on), who had been polite enough to offer tea and snacks. She had acted shocked at the news of her husband's death, and Para, with her usually tact, had called her on it, and several other lies the woman had told them (white lies, like actually making the snacks because she was bored, not for a friend that hadn't shown up.) and wanted to know why she had a wisp of grey around a bracelet. Needless to say, the woman hadn't reacted well.

Jack really wishes he hadn't had to choke to death on petals again, he's sure he missed something while he was dead. Like why Andy was only being held by the vines, not killed, and why Para was chasing the woman.

Andy grabs him, stopping him from running out in front of a large truck. Which was followed by two more, and Jack feels panic start to set in. Para doesn't have back up, her radio isn't working, and she's up against a woman who could somehow control creatures that he had never been able to beat.

Andy takes the lead as they finally cross the street, and following Ianto's directions they head to a group of trees.

And arrive in time to see Para crumple to the ground at the feet of a large faerie, clutching her chest, her jacket is torn slightly. The woman is already on the ground, frantically trying to do something, but Jack's focus is on Para. (Practically still a child and he owes her everything for bringing back Ianto.) The Faerie steps away, and Jack all but tackles Para to get her even further away. (_Not going to hurt my team again._)

"No, Jack, she's," Para starts, but is cut off by the woman's scream as the Faerie grabs her, and disappears. "the one in trouble." Para finishes lamely, one hand still clutching at her chest, the other holding onto Jack. (For once, she's not trying to escape physical contact.)

"The bracelet's broken." Andy notes, picking up the pieces.

"Yeah . . . that's why they obeyed her. I broke it, they turned on her."

"What did they do to you?" Because she's still clutching at her chest, still holding onto Jack, and even _leaning _against him.

"It shoved something into me, a 'gift' for freeing them." Para just closes her eyes. "I have no idea if it's a good gift or a trick."

"Let's get you back to the hub and checked out."

(The case is closed quickly, the woman's house is boxed up and placed in the Hub's storage due to lack of relatives, and Andy claims a desk at the Hub, now having to spend half his time with them. The 'gift' doesn't show up on any medical scans, but from Para's expression, that doesn't mean much.)

* * *

It's late, when Jack finally finishes the report in his new office (which he rather dislikes, actually) and heads to where the other desks are. Ianto is still out there, and the two freeze as they make eye contact.

"I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." The two move to stand in front of each other, and Ianto covers Jack's mouth so he can speak first.

"I know you want to protect me, so you don't have to relive my death, but, damnit Jack, it's just as hard for me to see you die, even knowing you can come back, it hurts. I can't, I can't stay on the sidelines, I need to be by your side."

"I can't bear to see you hurt, knowing it's because you're following me." Jack grips Ianto's hand. "I got you back by pure luck, Ianto, I just can't risk you, not yet. Give me some time."

"Okay, someone should probably make sure Dr. Cho and 38 aren't plotting our demises." Ianto nods, because they need this middle ground, this compromise, if they're going to make this relationship keep.

This time, the kiss (and touching) that follows is interrupted by a squeak of surprise. They break apart to see Para, with a very odd I-am-disturbed-by-two-males-kissing look.

"Really, you've seen us kiss before." Jack reminds her. Because she has, and she's never commented on it before.

"I just didn't know before that that magenta color you two get when you kiss meant 'Sexy-times-to-follow'!" Para's cheeks are starting to turn red. "As glad as I am Mum and Pop aren't fighting, I just . . ." She shuddered. "I'm going to go watch a movie, or something, loudly." Para rushes out, and Jack chuckles.

"Well, since our kid's gone to bed for the night, shall we?"

* * *

**Done, phew. How was that? Good, bad, horrible?**

**Feel sorry for Para, she's missing huge chunks of 'how to act like a normal person' and she has absolutely no idea what to do when Jack and Ianto are arguing, and she couldn't say anything because she was worried she'd make it worse.**

**Andy's role is basically to make sure Torchwood doesn't break every single law while on a case, and file the appropriate report with the police. More on this development in later chapters, but it's pretty important to later plots.**


	4. Bang! Bang!

**Let's see, Warnings: Mentions of Character death, conspiracy, adult fear tropes, mentions of a sex talk gone wrong, our two boys talking about previous relationships, a fan fic author adding in her own head-canon/fanon that may differ from the original work (which she doesn't own), and mentions of Children of Earth and Miracle Day events, and lastly, mentions of Gwen as a mildly more competent and sympathetic character. (The last part, I know, is what bothers people the most.)**

**Today's title is from the Beatles' song, Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I made the mistake of listening to the song, and now it's stuck in my head. (So is Octopus's Garden, they're alternating right now so it goes like 'Maxwell's silver hammer, in an octopus's garden, in the shade, came down upon his head' and so on. I may actually be going crazy if I can't get them out of my mind.)**

**Bang! Bang! (Maxwell's silver hammer came down)**

Ianto waits impatiently for Jack and Para to come to the van. Jack had said he could come on this run, but now the other two are five minutes late. Jack was going to train Para some more on guns and some hand to hand (disarming an opponent, breaking out of holds) and it might be that they're putting things up if the lesson ran long.

It's approaching seven minutes past the time they were supposed to go, when Jack comes in, a mix of sheepish, bemused, and a little glee. Para is nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry, ready to go?" Jack opens the door, and Ianto stops him from getting in.

"Where's Para?"

"Not coming." The sheepish expression becomes dominant, and Jack tilts his head towards the van. "I'll explain as we go."

Ianto rolls his eyes but obeys, a little giddy at the thought of going alone with Jack on what is essentially a free day for them. But first, "What did you do to Para?"

"Well, I noticed something, when we were meeting with that witch," who technically wasn't a witch, but Jack's using the term because he really doesn't like a woman that killed her own husband for not doing what she wanted, "Para copies people. She copied me going in, and then when the witch was passing out tea, she was coping you, and throughout it she was copying Andy's posture. And given the way she acted seeing me naked the other day, and realizing what the magenta color was . . ." Jack shakes his head, realizing he's rambling a little, trying to explain what he's noticed. Then again, Para's body language always seems a little muddled, and now he knows why. "She doesn't know how to act, so she's copying us. I asked her about it, and she confirmed she actually doesn't know a lot of what she's seeing, but since no one else comments on it, she doesn't ask. And she repeats what she hears other people say if she thinks it applies to the situation."

(Like telling Ianto he was in for a rough night when Jack was upset. She'd heard someone say that to a friend in regards to an upset wife, while they were in quarantine. The contexts of both scenarios, however, were completely different, and Para had not been aware of that.)

"Oh." Ianto pauses, and realizes that he's seen her shoot him looks when Jack is flirting with someone else (like the 'maids' that looked after them in quarantine), looks that are confused and trying to figure out what's going on. He never remarked on it, because she never spoke up, and he'd just assumed she was confused he let Jack flirt with people other than him. "So, you explained it?"

"Yes, it didn't go well." Jack notes Ianto's look, and sighs. "She doesn't like the idea of penetration or pain, really doesn't like the idea of oral, and she really, _really_, didn't like the concept of BDSM. I think it might be because of whatever experimentation she went through."

"You scared her." Ianto frowns, because Para's slipped into the place of 'younger sister' in his head, (maybe it's just him falling into the roll that 'official' papers have him in) and he doesn't like the idea of someone messing with her. "Why the heck did you explain BDSM to her anyway? If she was uncomfortable with just regular sex-?"

"I don't want her not understanding what people are talking about. She likes hanging in the Pub with Nigel, I don't want her to agree to something because she doesn't know what it is, and getting in trouble." He doesn't really trust Nigel to look out for her, is what goes unsaid.

"So, why is she not coming?"

"She was really uncomfortable, and she wanted some time to get her head straight." More likely, she didn't want to look at both of them and have images in her head. Jack had agreed; because while he would have preferred to have her with him, just in case Dr. Cho tried something, he knew she wasn't well-trained enough to push aside a distraction.

"I'll talk to her when we get back, make sure you haven't scarred her for life." Ianto decides. "Where are we going?"

"I have some things I want to check up on; Gwen was supposed to, but she left a really cryptic message regarding one that worries me." Jack passes him a folded up piece of paper that should have been in a file.

There is only one thing highlighted. '_Lighthouse_' and next to that is Gwen's neat handwriting (a filer's dream, because Owen's scrawl was illegible, and Tosh, if she didn't use labels, was little better) '_Miracle- there's an egg, territorial._' Which makes no sense, it's like Gwen wasn't really thinking about what she was writing.

Or, she was being purposefully vague, worried someone who shouldn't read it, would.

The lighthouse is an old one, and looks a little damaged. Jack heads in, and swears. Ianto follows, but can't really see anything that would make Jack upset- there's nothing there.

"That's the point." Jack snaps, and Ianto realizes he's said the last out loud. "Remember when people were disappearing into the Rift?" He asks, and Ianto just nods, because Jack's face is torn between anger and sorrow. "They came back, changed. They weren't sane, so I put them here. Gwen found out, and disagreed with my keeping them from their families who were worried about them, which was a reasonable point." Jack admitted, "Some of them might have benefitted from having their families know, but . . . well, Gwen promised not to let any of their families find out. The mother that she brought offered to help take care of them, so I wouldn't be constantly leaving to check on them."

"What happened to them, then?" Ianto is a little disturbed he hadn't known about this; oh, he'd known this lighthouse was part of Torchwood Three's estate (there was a warehouse and a actual house as well, both normally used for sting operations), but he hadn't known Jack had been keeping people here.

"Miracle . . . For two months, there were inspectors with heat seeking devices that they used to find Category Ones that families were trying to hide. They must've found them, probably even killed them." And if someone, like Gwen, had thought their 'imprisonment' without family contact here cruel, that would have been a mark against him. Probably had been a mark against Gwen, too, which is why they transferred her away.

"What about the rest of it?" Ianto gestures to the paper he's still holding.

Jack frowns, and looks up at the light up at the top. "Let's find out."

The climb is silent, Jack keeps pushing Ianto behind him when he feels the other is too exposed, and Ianto lets him.

(Because he can still remember their argument and Jack is the only one with a gun right now, though Ianto did bring a taser.)

They reach the top, and find a nest- it's large, with old blankets (and one of Ianto's suit jackets, which he thought he'd lost), and a hissing Pteranodon on top. (Well, it's not really hissing, but that's the only way to describe the odd noise coming from her.)

"Myfanwy!" Ianto recognizes her, and after a brief fumble comes up with a piece of chocolate (for emergencies- it was used if Myfanwy, Gwen or Tosh was having a bad day and he hasn't quite kicked the habit of keeping some with him) which he tosses.

Myfanwy catches it, and stops hissing. She's still eyeing them warily, and after a few moments seems to decide they're not a threat and turn her attention to her nest again.

"We didn't find her remains." Jack notes, looking a little relieved, "She must've gotten out, before I …" He shakes his head. "I'm starting to regret not staying touch with Gwen better, while I was wandering."

"She does have an egg, looks like two, actually." Ianto, however, is ignoring Jack's thoughts, and steps a little too close to the nest.

Before Jack can react, Myfanwy does, beak latching onto Ianto's jacket- and pulls Ianto closer to start grooming him. She hisses at Jack when he takes a step too close.

"That's not fair." Jack mutters, taking a few steps back. Myfanwy looks at him approvingly, before returning her attention to Ianto.

"So, Myf made it out … what about the weevils we had captured, like Janet?"

"Gone. If not in the explosion, then because they were killed." Jack sighs. "Once the 456 were gone, I … I didn't return to the Hub except to grab a bag." Jack admits, shifting on his feet. "I left Gwen in charge, and didn't look back."

(_Because you were gone._ The words hover between them, and it's less of a wound than it was.)

"Really? Where'd you go?"

"Ireland, first, then I'd figured I'd start exploring places I'd never really had a chance to go to." Jack watches as Myfanwy decides Ianto is groomed to her standards, nudges him gently, and then curls up on her nest. (They decide to leave while she's still in a good mood, and Ianto notices a security camera trained on the nest- Gwen must've been monitoring from afar.)

"Such as?"

"Wine country in France, it was nice, the ladies were more than willing to show me how to stomp grapes." Jack gives a wolfish grin and Ianto rolls his eyes. "Belgium was nice, too, and there was a hot skiing instructor in Switzerland you would have liked. He hit me with a pole." Jack says wistfully, and Ianto resigns himself to hearing some of the more sordid details of this trip.

"Saw the ruins of Pompeii- which they could probably build an entire town on top of and it would be fully functional, I'd heard it was well preserved, but I was amazed by just how well preserved it really was." Jack gave a small smile.

"Greece and Turkey were next, got in a debate with a Theology student in the ruins of Ephesus- she was really nice about it, probably the best example I've seen in years of a person who actually practices what she preaches, and is honest about not being perfect- she set me up with her cousin, who was just starting to come out of the closet. I should start emailing her again, she had some good advice." He mused aloud, unlocking the van doors.

Ianto's eyebrows almost shot through his hairline at Jack admitting a Theologian had good advice. Normally he just brushed anything to do with that subject away and treated those who believed it as crazy.

Then again, maybe he'd been lonely enough to accept company from anybody.

"I thought about going to Russia, but I figured I go to India and then Indonesia instead, Singapore was nice- a lot of strict rules, but very nice." Jack finished as they started pulling away. "It helped, a little."

"Taking a break usually does help with grief." Ianto agrees, but frowns. "But when did I?"

"Ianto?"

"Sorry, I just, I have the strangest feeling that it was a lot longer than it was, after Li- when you went chasing after the Doctor to your return. Because otherwise . . ." Ianto shakes his head. "I don't know why I think that." Because otherwise, it was only a few weeks (maybe) between him upset about Lisa's death and wanting Jack's return. He's never thought of it before, but the progression now seems a little off.

Jack doesn't say anything, and Ianto can see he's a little worried and confused.

"What was Lisa like?" Jack finally asks, and Ianto is a little surprised.

"Lisa, she was lovely." It's been a while, and it takes a moment to bring up the memories of his former fiancé. "She loved coffee, so I learned how to make the fancier kinds for her. She could be a little absent minded when she was focused on something, she'd sometimes forget to eat, or that we had a date, but she would always make it up to me." It's not as painful as it used to be, to think of Lisa, there's a dull ache instead of a sharp heart-wrenching pain, and he knows he'll never stop loving her; but he's in love with Jack, and something tells him the two would have gotten along. "She loved having fun, it was like she could make anything fun, even filing." Ianto finishes, and looks at Jack. "You'd have liked her."

"Well, she loved you, so that's a definite point in her favor." Jack says, and it's a crooked smile that accompanies the comment.

"What about you? Anyone you ever-?"

"Estelle, she … she was a bit like you and Para combined, a little naïve but very business-like. It was hard to leave her." Jack took a breath. "Alice's mom, we were engaged when she had Alice. Then Torchwood stepped in and took them away. She … she was a Torchwood agent, very down-to-earth, no nonsense, met her on a weevil-hunt, she actually brained one with a fire-extinguisher. She died when Alice was 6 or 7, so I was allowed to raise Alice for a bit. Until they sent her off to a boarding school and refused to let me visit. Alice didn't take my working for Torchwood very well, or my immortality." He shook his head. "Alice is practically her mother in attitude, but she's got my ability to hold on to little things."

Ianto gently rubs Jack's shoulder. He understands there's more to that story he hasn't heard yet, but Jack's reluctant to say it, so Ianto lets him keep his secrets. They've got time to work it out.

"There were a couple others, but, they didn't handle my immortality well. It's why I never told Estelle." Jack's eyes briefly flicked to him, before returning back to the road.

"And what about that blonde, Rose?" Ianto asks, and Jack gives a small smile.

"Rose was, and always will be, a very special woman to me. Headstrong, smart, and a fighter. But, there was never really a chance for us to be together; she was always head over heels for the Doctor." Jack shook his head. "I wouldn't have minded a threesome, but Rose's background made her a bit possessive over him- I don't think she was aware of that, though, she was pretty young …" Jack mused, and then blinked. "You know, I think that's part of why I hired Gwen?"

"Because she was like Rose?" Ianto tilts his head, and tries to put the description of Rose to what he knows of Gwen. It actually fit; Gwen had had a hard time letting go of her own opinions, and could be very stubborn, even when trying to admit something to herself. Gwen wanted to have her cake and eat it too. "Did anything happen between you two? Gwen and you, I mean."

(It wouldn't have surprised or hurt him if they had, but he couldn't see them having a relationship that was healthy, or stable, given that Gwen was married to Rhys.)

"… It's funny, when Miracle happened, I was mortal; so I went out for a good time, it was nice, but it wasn't what I wanted so I called her. She wasn't listening to me, because she'd gotten a call through to Rhys and Anwen." Jack shook his head. "I don't know why, but somehow, it felt like I missed something important."

"She'd moved on, you hadn't?" Ianto suggests, and Jack gives a slight nod. "What happened to Captain Hart? You said you saw him at my- at my funeral."

"I honestly have no idea, he probably went back home." Jack pulls himself together, and gives Ianto a smile. "Now, I do believe we still have some free time, barring an emergency, shall we move on to something more enjoyable?"

"You're dodging." But Ianto allows Jack the change of subject, though he decides to act like he hadn't heard Jack's 'suggestion'. "I'm thinking the next time I get a chance, I need to visit my sister, and introduce Para to her. She's supposed to be my cousin, after all. It would help if Rhi can recognize her. Also, I think I need to put up 'do not touch' signs in the Archives again, either our Alien or Para keeps forgetting to put things back, or puts them in the wrong area." It's small things, mostly, but still annoying.

"You did that on purpose." Jack mutters, before saying, "Alright, I'll see when we've got the most time available. Have you-" Jack suddenly interrupts himself with a swear, and accelerates, taking a turn back to Cardiff.

"Jack?" Ianto starts, but Jack's gotten his phone out and hit a number.

"We're coming back, right now, there's something I forgot." Is all that he says, and Ianto quickly calls Andy to let him know the Torchwood van is going to be breaking a few speed limits (and possibly records, he mentally adds, as Jack continues to speed back). Jack doesn't acknowledge him at all for the rest of the trip, and Ianto is more than a little concerned by the time they reach the Hub.

"Jack, what is it?" Ianto finally demands as Jack barely puts the van into park before hoping out. Ianto has to grab the keys out of the ignition, before following.

Jack's so busy running he almost knocks down Para and the Alien, who are coming from a different direction.

"Ianto, what's going on?" Para asks, quickly joining him in following after Jack.

"I have no idea." Ianto admits, and they follow Jack to where the pods holding the bodies of previous agents are stored. According to the records Ianto's been going over, Suzie's is gone, destroyed, several are damaged, but still functional thanks to how armored some of the vaults are. Jack heads to a vault that Ianto vaguely recognizes, and finally, he makes the connection that Jack made.

_Gray. Things have been taken without permission. The lighthouse is emptied. Why wouldn't they go after a frozen person?_

"It's gone." Jack says, quietly, almost broken. The open vault contains only wires and scrap metal, but the pod and its occupant have been removed. "He's gone." Ianto grabs onto Jack with an embrace that's equal parts comfort and support as the other almost falls.

"You kept a prisoner here?" U-38 asks, while Para takes a few hesitant steps in.

"My brother, he was … sick, so we put him to sleep until we could figure out how to help him." Jack's voice is broken now. (He'd left, left his brother again, and now someone else had him. Why did he keep repeating the same mistakes?) "Para, is there anything?"

Para glances at him, before turning her focus back onto the empty room. She frowns, and then practically fades to nothing before coming back with a jolt, and quickly stepping back.

"Para?" That's a reaction they've never seen before, and Para's still retreating quickly out of the room, eyes on something that apparently scares her.

"There's nothing. Literally, nothing, right where the pod should be." Para says, and she's shaking, one hand going to her chest. "It's like someone drained the colors all out of that spot, and it radiates out, so I can't get a picture of anything- it's all distorted-like." Her other hand joins the first pressing against her chest. "I just see some vague shapes coming in at some point, but that's it." Para looks at them, and Ianto can tell she's upset that she can't help, that for the first time, she can't look into the past and give a clear answer. "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean by nothing?" U-38, however, doesn't seem to care she's upset. "And why are you retreating?"

"Because there's nothing, not even color in that spot, but it's- maybe not radiating out, but drawing things into it, causing the distortion. It tried to pull on me." And she shudders again, taking another step back. "This entire hallway is affected." She added.

"It's okay, Para, you tried." Jack says, his voice still a little rough, and closes the vault. Para relaxes once the door is closed, and even U-38 turns to look at Jack as the door shuts. "We'll get Andy to look for prints, if there are any. U-38, you help Ianto go through the security footage of the hallway, it should still be backed up somewhere, the Archives were only a little singed, not destroyed."

"I'll go call the detective." Para all but fled up the hallway.

"I'll get the search started." U-38 looked at Ianto, mostly expressionless (disdain for working with humans was the only emotion he ever let show) and briefly glanced at Jack, before turning and walking away.

Ianto has no idea of what to make of that, save for perhaps U-38 is trying to make the best of his situation (or copying Para, which is a frightening thought) or trying not antagonize them any more than he already has.

"I left him behind again." Jack says, and Ianto brings his thought back to the man who's threatening to fall apart. "I just locked him away and _forgot_,"

"Nothing. You forgot nothing. You didn't abandon him, Jack, in case you forgot, he was unstable and putting him in cryo-freeze was the best option, putting him a cell would have given him a place to try and escape to kill you, and you wouldn't have lived with yourself if you killed him." Ianto corrects, and Jack just stares at him, hope and guilt warring in his eyes. "Yes, we should have put better security on him, but it's still not your fault."

"That's not what it feels like." Jack replies, and Ianto just tightens his hold on him.

"I know. Maybe you should have done this, maybe you should have done that, but maybes don't change what's happened. You're not Superman, Jack; you're just human, just as imperfect as the rest of us."

The lights in the hall flickered a little as the two held each other.

* * *

It was an hour later that they made it back to the desks, where Para was talking to U-38. She stopped as they came in.

"Davidson is busy with a homicide right now, a guy stabbed his mistress, and he'll be by tomorrow." She said and Jack nodded.

"That will work, thank you." He added, crossing the few steps between them and pulling her into a hug. She stiffened a little, but returned it. "Sorry about earlier, I probably told you a little too much too soon, huh?" He let her go and she shifted a little uncomfortably.

"Just a little. I'm not interested in having it anyway."

"Why not, you haven't even tried it?"

"That I remember," She added, dryly, "and I don't need to smoke to know I'm not interested in it, or to drink so much I have a hangover just to know what it feels like."

"Jack." Ianto stopped him from saying anything. "Para, help me get some coffee?"

"Sure." Para followed, and leaned against the counter as he started the machine again. (Dr. Cho kept turning it, and any other machine she saw left on that wasn't a computer, off to save electricity.) "Let me guess, Sex talk version 3?"

"More like 21st century version as opposed to 51st- who gave you the second?"

"Dr. Cho, she included all the diseases one could get, as well as possible damage from sex gone wrong, how babies are conceived and the various psychological conditions and opinions regarding sex." Para rubbed her eyes. "Which, by the way, makes me even less interested in oral sex or one night stands- how do you even know for sure your partner is clean? And did you know that condoms aren't 100 percent protection? Neither is the birth control pill and people rely on those things so much. And Freud was a whack-job that should never have been listened to, because by today's standards the way he confirmed half his theories is practically quack-worthy."

"Oh, you've really gotten too much information." Ianto winced. "Well, you might as well hear this version."

"Lovely," Para muttered, before looking at him with false interest, "And what's your version, sir?"

"Don't have sex unless you know you're ready to do it." Ianto smiled as she blinked in surprise. "Sex, when done right, and with someone you trust, is fun. Yes, there might be pain or discomfort, but if you trust them and work together, it's not a horrible one. Right now, you barely let me and Jack into your personal space to touch you, so you're definitely not ready to have sex with anyone. Don't let anyone pressure you into it, either, go at your own pace. If you ever have a partner that wants to have sex, and you're still not ready, ask them to wait. If they complain or get angry at you, get out of that relationship; if they agree, and you two can compromise, try to work it out."

"… I like this version better." Para got out the cups. "51st and Medical are disturbing."

"Well, Jack grew up thinking sex wasn't a big deal, and a make-out session is an acceptable hello." Ianto says with a wry smile. He was exaggerating, but he didn't know how to explain the 51st century any better without creeping her out again. "However, Jack also has better rules and standards about who and what he sleeps with, unlike a certain Captain Hart," he mutters the last part without thinking as the coffee finally finishes brewing.

"Who's Captain Hart?" Para tilted her head, and Ianto winces.

"A 51st century man that worked with Jack once, prior to Jack coming back in time. He's … not someone you should trust too quickly. And he'll sleep with anyone or anything, given half a chance, including animals."

"Sounds lovely." Para makes a face. Ianto chuckles at that, and is surprised when Para gives him a hug. "I trust you and Jack, Ianto, it's just, my head keeps saying touch is going to be painful, but when you two touch me, it never is, so I get confused."

"It's okay, we know you need time." Ianto gently returned it, and after separating, picked up two cups. "C'mon, let's get these to the others, we've got a late night."

"Right behind you, sir." Para nods, and when Ianto's back was turned, grimaces, gently pressing the heel of her palm into her chest. She's scared to tell them about this, even though she knows she trusts them.

It's the fact that the ball of grey the fae called a gift and shoved into her chest feels like it's uncurling, but it's not what's causing her pain. Her chest just hurts for no reason, and Dr. Cho's scanners don't register her properly.

Para quickly pulls her hand away and grabs the other two cups, smiling as Ianto turns around to make sure she's following.

She's scared of what the pain might mean, but she's even more scared that it's something that they can't help her with.

* * *

**Alright, initially, this was going to be Ianto and Jack having a day off and talking. Then I noticed a few canon conflicting items and plot holes, and while I couldn't bring Janet in, I was able to bring Myfanwy, mentions of other characters, and some plot important things. **

**Believe it or not, I do actually have an over-reaching plot line through these chapters. Actually, there are a couple.**

**I meant for Para not to get any focus besides the 'reacted negatively to Jack's talk' in the beginning, but she snuck back in.**

**I have had to hear several different versions of 'The Talk'. A few have scarred me for life, but the one Ianto gives was the best one I ever heard. **


End file.
